I'm a little late to this party, but in case you haven't read the ten other diaries about this by now:
Mother Jones
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
I have two responses, Mitt:
1. You're a dick
2. You've got the wrong number.
More after los squiggles...
No, Romney, there are 99.9% of us who depend on government EVERY DAY in order to live our lives. It seems that you forgot what a government actually does for us every single day so that we don't have the issues that less fortunate nations face:
- Do you drive to work, school, or that cute girl's house on the other side of town? Thanks to the government, that vehicle that you are driving is regulated so that it meets minimum safety requirements, including having air bags on board, seat belts, and a decent enough crash safety rating that you have a chance of living through someone t-boning you. Oh, and if you bought your car new and it breaks down, thanks to regulations there is consumer protection for you. You don't get shafted if you get sold a "lemon" automobile.
- And how are you getting to work? Are you driving on dirt roads? Do you have to drive around creeks and small lakes? No? Thank the government for the road system that you and everyone else enjoys every day. I'm sure those bridges help reduce your commute time as well, and thanks to government regulations those bridges are going to stay intact through normal daily use.
- Speaking of driving, have you noticed how people tend to drive on one side of the road, stop when prompted to do so, and generally don't hit each other like this is a game of bumper cars? We are "entitled" to laws that keep the roads orderly and safe for all of us, and that punish those who threaten your safety by driving while drunk, or too fast, etc. The government also makes sure that each person on the road has a baseline level of competence with operating their motor vehicle by requiring all drivers to have a license or permit.
And that's just during your morning commute! Guess who uses government roads? ALL OF US! That's right, even the mega-billionaires have used a road at one point or another. We are all dependent on the government to build and maintain a reliable road and highway system.
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What else is everyone reliant on that the government provides? Off the top of my head:
- The police
- Firefighters
- Clean air and water regulations
- Game hunting regulations that keep deer from dangerously infesting our roads, yet keep them from going extinct as well.
- Occupational regulations, through OSHA, that keep us safe at work.
- A large, well-armed military, FBI, CIA, and Secret Service that protects us not just from terrorists and foreign nations, but also domestic threats at home.
- A regulatory system for our farms that ensures we all have access to fresh produce and other grown foods.
- Employment laws that ensure that we, the workers, are treated with a baseline of fairness. Our children are not forced to work. We have a minimum that we can be paid. Our employers have to pay us extra if they want us to work for more than 40 hours per week.
- A regulated airport system that allows us to travel safely across the country in an airplane, without having to worry about crashing into another aircraft, or fly in an unsafe plane, or with an incompetent pilot, etc.
- A healthcare system and programs that keep most of us healthy. (This still needs work, however. We still don't have a healthcare system that keeps us healthy AND out of bankruptcy, but that's another topic for another day...)
I know my fellow kossacks can come up more than this. What else are we, all of us, dependent on from the government?
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Who pays the taxes to cover this? ALL OF US!
The red herring from the GOP is their claim that only some of us pay income taxes. Don't play their game. The proper answer to this is to say that everyone pays taxes. I am personally going to be taxed at least three times today, when I pay for my lunch, dinner, and an item I have to pick up while shopping. I buy at least some food on a daily basis, ergo I am taxed all the time. Every American has paid at least sales tax. Everyone contributes. Don't let some smug ass like Mitt tell you otherwise.